


By God's Will

by PhaedraZev



Series: The Rebels of Heaven [3]
Category: The Devil's Carnival (Movies)
Genre: Angels, Class Issues, Conditioning, Fallen Angels, Gen, Heaven & Hell, Origin Story, POV Lucifer, Pride, Protective Lucifer, Rebellion, Treason, damnation, pride cometh before a fall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:21:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25242307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhaedraZev/pseuds/PhaedraZev
Summary: Lucifer's Rebellion has been defeated and banished from Heaven. Still, the Will of God resonates within Lucifer and his fellow Fallen. What will it take for life to become 'prettiest After the Fall'?
Series: The Rebels of Heaven [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1660795
Kudos: 6





	By God's Will

**Author's Note:**

> Note 1: In Alleluia you learn of the distinction between Angels and Outcasts, more importantly, the brands which define them. Though I've always wondered why Lucifer, one who hates and defies God, would keep the brand so long after his Fall? Why did it take until June for him to make this act of rejection against God? These questions are what motivated this story and the other tales of the Rebels of Heaven series. 
> 
> Note 2: The italicized scene is taken directly from the movie.

_ God’s Court, The Trial of the Rebellion _

Lucifer came to in a pounding haze. Every part of his body strained under the unfamiliarity of pain. The back of his head, in particular, screamed as though beaten by a Translator. Though it was the tightness of his arms behind his back that felt the strangest of all. That is, until he realized that they were restrained.

“He’s awake.” Someone announced.

“About time.” The voice of God sneered. “Bring him to his knees.”

A boot on his back kicked Lucifer forward. He lurched, but without the use of his hands he fell painfully on his knees. The shock of the fall woke him up completely. His mind pushed away from the pain and focused on God, meeting the deity’s contemptive glare.

“Lucifer Morningstar.” The false father began. “Of all of my children, you have been the biggest disappointment. You rose through the ranks, became a One by my blessing, why- I even thought of you as Our brightest angel. Diligent and loyal to the Word. Yet look at you now. What changed?”

“I learned the truth.” He hissed through the pain. “That the Word is a lie!”

“Truth? I am the Master of All Creation. My Word IS truth, you ungrateful brat!” 

“And yet you contradict yourself.” Lucifer rebutted. “Loyalty and hard work is rewarded, unless you trick them into Falling. Twos are shepherds of the flock, but they’re not shepherds at all. What sort of _Almighty_ _Author_ can’t keep his own story straight?” The observation earned him a whack on the head from the Six behind him. The pounding in his skull worsened.

In front of him, God sneered, his face twisting into a threatening smile. “I see what this is really about. What you’re really after. This isn’t a revolution. You’re not looking to help your fellow angels at all.”

His eyes narrowed with suspicious foreboding. “What are you talking about?”

“I gave you everything an angel could want; but that wasn’t enough for you, was it? No. You got greedy, wanting  _ more. _ Tried to overthrow me so that you could be the Shepherd ruling over the flock.”

The accusation at once shocked him. His mind stunned a moment, before growing red with outrage. “That’s a lie!”

“You started this because I told you you’re not the Shepherd and you were too proud to admit your place. That’s what brought on this disgraceful tantrum.”

“I  _ started this _ because of what you did to Froder-”

“-Because you think Heaven should run by  _ your _ rules!” God cut in. “Admit it, Lucifer, you’re a selfish child who thinks he’s better than everyone else, than even your Creator! You want the universe for yourself and will destroy everything in your path until you get what you want.”

“LIAR!” He launched to his feet. A furious anger blazed through his core like wildfire. Even the pain in his skull seemed to burst as he raged against God’s twisted claim.

\--Every angel standing witness in the room took a step back as he stepped upward. Shocked gasps and muttered curses echoed through the chamber as they beheld the once Bright Angel. The Lucifer as they knew him had at once changed. Every inch of his white skin burned into a volatile red. It’s fiery transformation seemed to burn through him, causing the hairs on his head to burn and fall away. Almost as immediate from his head a pair of strange horns sprouted forth. Rippled and uneven, they grew and curved to the back of his head. Others in the crowd noticed, too, that the One’s fingernails also grew and curved from his fingers into grotesque claws. Each witness, even those among the guilty, held terrified at the sight. The angel before them couldn’t even be thought of as an angel at all. No. He was a demon!--

Something had happened, Lucifer knew. He could feel more than rage coursing through him. Could feel the tickle of skin as hair moved past his face. Though he could feel it, he could pay no mind to it. His eyes and mind were focused solely on the liar before him. The liar who now looked at him with sinister glee.

“And now he reveals himself for what he truly is.” God declared to the witnesses of court. “It’s too late, Lucifer. You’ve already damned yourself.” He raised his right hand, index finger sweeping up to signal a command. Two Sixes stepped to each side of Lucifer as a third cut the bonds from his arms. On his right, a Six ripped the 1 band from his arm. On his left, the other Six grabbed his wrist and forced a new band -marked with an X- up his arm. As they did this, God spoke. “Lucifer Morningstar, you and the foolish angels you tricked are banished from Heaven! You will all spend the rest of eternity in Hell for your sins!”

Despite his anger, Lucifer found himself unable to speak. The sound of tearing cloth, the removal of the 1 from his arm… it shocked him. To remove a band is sacrilege. Disgraceful in a way beyond comprehension. To have it taken by force… a life of conditioning left him without words.

Seeing this reaction, a spark of inspiration alighted in God’s mind. “Though you, Lucifer, will be more than a damned angel.” The addition caught Lucifer’s ear, breaking him from the sight of his torn band. “Since you aimed to become the Shepherd of Heaven, you are hereby reborn as the Shepherd of the Damned!” The court collectively whispered in voices of shock or confusion. God, though, smiled venomously. “You are now the caretaker of the damned, traitorous outcasts from Heaven. The punisher of depraved and unworthy human souls. All that live in Hell will be your domain. You and you alone will provide for them, in a land without My mercy. Now GO and be the shepherd you so badly want to be!”

With that, Lucifer and the other Fallen angels were dragged away. In groups they were forced into the elevator. Their numbers dwindled by the hour until Lucifer was all that was left. 

“Mind your step, your majesty.” One of the guarding Sixes smirked mockingly. “You wouldn’t want to trip and Fall- oh wait!” 

Lucifer glared at the woman, but rose above giving a retort. Instead he strode inside the elevator and waited calmly as the doors closed. Once they shut, however, his composure broke. He looked down at his hands -his red, clawed hands- his heart a cacophony of emotions. He had failed. He failed everyone. He failed himself. And for what? To be banished? Though to be in Heaven a slave, would that have been better or worse? The same can be said for being free yet twisted beyond recognition. Though he wasn’t truly free, anyways. A Punisher of souls. That is his new role, but he isn’t a punisher, he’s a storyteller! To be a Caretaker of the damned, as well... ruling over Heaven hadn’t been his intention, either. At least, not in the Godly sense. But this? Lucifer shook his head. This isn’t what he wanted. What he intended. He considered if God knew the truth of it. Did God really give him this punishment as a mockery of his lies ...or did he do it because he knew Lucifer wouldn’t be able to refuse once given the task? 

The elevator dinged, breaking Lucifer from his thoughts. The doors opened with a cry of “OUTCAST! OUTCAST!” Taking a breath, Lucifer restrained his emotions and stepped out of the elevator. Immediately he was hit by waves of darkness and stink. He cringed at the intrusion but kept himself from a full recoil. Instead he opted for smaller breaths as he took in his surroundings. The sky was black and oppressing, yet from some horror explosions of firelight would illuminate the sky and his surroundings. It allowed him to see the sea of faces huddled groups. His fellow angels crying or reassuring one another, though even the reassuring souls were weighed down by the cruelty of their fate. On the fringes, others began to wail. Something in their faces seemed… off. Noses or mouths not quite the right shape, skin no longer quite human. Just what was happening to them? It was similar to what had happened to him. Perhaps this was the curse of being one of the Fallen?

“Lucifer!” Constantine called out. He came over to him at once, Kenanyah and a few others trailing behind him. “I was starting to worry. Is there anyone else left?”

“No. I’m the last.” 

In the distance, another voice wailed loudly. The cry pierced, yet soon mingled amongst the wailing and explosions around them. “What do we do, now?” Constantine asked quietly, as though to himself.

The question echoed in Lucifer’s mind. What  _ do _ they do, now? He looked slowly around at the many souls in his wake. Some would catch his eye, their gazes hardened in hate or looked away in fear. Others, though, others looked to him with… hope? Questions? Each asking their own plea.  _ What do we do, now? _

Of those that did not catch his gaze, he found many looking down their arms. Left or right didn’t seem to matter. The loss of one band vs. the brand of the other, both were equally damning. They are outcasts. Left without God to guide their way. 

And yet (as foreign as the thought felt) these people aren’t abandoned. Not completely. 

“Now,” he replied, “we begin.” Strode forward to find higher ground. Finding a small hill within the crowd, he stood at the top, turned his armband forward to bring it’s X on display, and called everyone to his attention. 

God may have abandoned them, dubbed him a shepherd as a mockery and a punishment, but Lucifer will reclaim that mockery and turn his punishment into his strength.

* * *

_ Hell, Many Years Later _

_ Lucifer and Constantine walked through the grounds of Hell. Wine glasses in hand, they made their way into one of the larger, torn tents as Constantine gave his report on the progress of the future carnival. _

_ “More and more lost souls are arriving everyday. We need to devise more efficient ways to house and torment, in volume.” He reported. _

_ “We will.” Lucifer assured in confidence. Knowing Constantine, he likely already has ideas in place.  _

_ “I’ve already instructed the Smith to double the amount of tent anchors and iron bars.” _

_ “Good!” Lucifer barely held back his laughter, knowing that the man already proved his assumption correct. “The heavy hammers of progress!” _

_ “Right.” Constantine chuckled softly. “Oh, one of the new arrivals... a girl from Heaven. Scorned because of her ambition. Considered a wild one.” _

_ “The Almighty fraud must be losing his mind.” He remarked playfully. “Who will be left to wipe his royal ass once he’s kicked everyone out of the kingdom.” The two of them laughed at the jape, clinking their drinks as they continued their walk through the carnival. _

* * *

Despite his carefree exchange with Constantine, Lucifer knew that Constantine wouldn’t have brought up the girl unless he was worried about her. So, to ease the worries of his friend, Lucifer searched out the new arrival. It didn’t take long to find the girl. Her pale hair and flowing white dress were easy to spot against a backdrop of straw yellows, dirty reds, and deep blacks. He watched the girl from afar, curious of the wild nature Constantine reported on. The woman moved strangely, true. Her body leaned and twisted with broken bones and deep pain. The sight of other people had her jerking backward steps, avoiding them in fear. Though her face could inspire fear on it’s own. Her right side was caked in unwashed blood down to the shoulder, eyes running mascara to the chin, though it was her eyes that truly brought fear. Not for the brightness of her unnatural blue eye, no, it was the anguish that they held. The fear and sorrow and hopelessness of the newly Fallen. 

He watched on as the woman stumbled upon a dirty fun-house mirror. Her already warped appearance further twisted. Yet she didn’t seem to notice the distorted shape of her body. Instead, her eyes seemed drawn a little to the side. Her left hand raised out to the mirror for a moment, only to turn and touch a red cloth on her arm. An Applicant’s band. Her eyes drifted down to the armband, fresh tears streaking down her face. 

_ Scorned for her ambition. _ Constantine had said. Ambition that she clearly never reached, not even becoming a Seven. Yet the girl still had tears to shed.

“I wassn’t aware you have a preference for blondes.” Maksim’s voice slithered in beside him. Though the statement was meant to tease, Lucifer refused to take the bait.

“A newly Fallen from Heaven.” He replied simply. 

The two of them watched as the girl sat on a crate forlornly, her hand still cradling the armband. “She has her old band. Must have done something truly wicked to Fall without a trial. Impressive, for an applicant.”

“Perhaps.” Lucifer considered. “Though the way she fondles it, it’s rather pathetic. She was barely there yet she clings to Heaven.”

Maksim snickered. “You’re one to talk.”

The remark eluded Lucifer. He raised his brow at the ever-changing man, only for the man to shift completely to resemble Lucifer. His left arm swept across his body with a flourish, the X of his band on full display. “Behold! The King of the Outcasts! Shepherd of The Damned as ordained by God’s Will!” Maksim snickered one again, grinning with Lucifer’s visage. “Come now, you’ve paraded our bands like a badge of honour for millennia. Are you really any different?”

Lucifer frowned at the man, both for his dislike of Maksim’s mockery and for the way the man’s comments twisted something ugly in his mind. It was an unpleasant thought. Though, the more it lingered, the more the remark gained some merit. “You may be right.” He admitted. He glanced as his own armband, and again to the woman who began to walk away in the distance. “Perhaps it’s time for a change.”

Maksim grinned mischievously. “Have anything particular in mind?”

Lucifer nodded once. The memory of his transition and eventual acceptance from one band to another played at the forefront of his mind. “Seek the girl out. Make sure she finds her way to the square.”

The man smiled, his face transforming to his normal appearance, commenting “This will be a fun game” before disappearing completely from the space.

That settled, he made his own way to the square, making sure to alert Constantine, Froder, and Kenanyah to summon the others there as well. It was high time for Hell to be free from God’s Will, once and for all.

**Author's Note:**

> It took over three years, but I FINALLY finished the Rebels of Heaven Series! This story has been in my mind since 2017. It's comforting to know that it's all finally written.


End file.
